GeForce GTX 980 vs Radeon R9 290X - Should I upgrade?
Category : Should I Upgrade?
Published by Hiwa Pouri on 26.02.15
A gamer simply can't have enough graphics power in his rig, which makes the upgrade question omnipresent. To show you whether it makes sense to upgrade from one generation to another we created this series of articles, where we will compare graphics cards from different generations. Today we're having a close look at the differences between the GTX 980 from NVIDIA and the over one year old Radeon R9 290X made by AMD.
Test Setup
|
Motherboard |
- ASUS Maximus VII Hero (BIOS 0224)
|
| CPU |
- Intel Core i7-4770K @ 4.0 GHz (Turbo On / HT On)
|
|
Memory |
- G.Skill Ares Dual Channel 2x8GB @ CL11-12-11-28-1T-Auto DDR3-1600 MHz
|
|
Graphics Cards |
- AMD Radeon R9 290X
- nVidia GeForce GTX 980
|
| Drivers |
- Windows 7 x64 (up to date)
- nVidia
ForceWare 347.25
- AMD Catalyst 14.11.2 Beta
|
| Games |
|
|
Games and OS |
- Windows 7 x64
- All
games were up to date on the
|
|
System Drive |
|
|
PSU |
- Seasonic Platinum SS-1000XP / 1000 Watts
|
[pagebreak]
3DMark - Fire Strike
| Performance, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Score |
Graphics Score |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
11'240 |
13'442 |
116.48 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
9'650 |
11'207 |
100.00 % |
| |
More is better |
|
Extreme, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Score |
Graphics Score |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
5'688 |
6'135 |
120.51 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
4'720 |
5'068 |
100.00 % |
| |
More is better |
| Ultra, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Score |
Graphics Score |
% |
| nVidia GeForce
GTX 980 |
2'888 |
2'940 |
111.76 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
2'584 |
2'556 |
100.00 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Unigine Heaven 4.0 Extreme Preset
| High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Score |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
2'239 |
88.3 |
114.53 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
1'955 |
78.9 |
100.00 % |
| |
More is better |
|
High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Score |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
1'198 |
47.0 |
111.03 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
1'079 |
42.5 |
100.00 % |
| |
More is better |
|
High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Score |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
514 |
19.8 |
105.23 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
488 |
17.9 |
100.00 % |
| |
More is better |
Unigine Heaven'settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Preset: Custom
- Quality: Ultra
- Tesselation: Extreme
- Stereo 3D: Disabled
- Multi Monitor: Disabled
- Anti Aliasing: 8x
- Full Screen: On
- Resolution: Custom
|
- Preset: Custom
- Quality: Ultra
- Tesselation: Extreme
- Stereo 3D: Disabled
- Multi Monitor: Disabled
- Anti Aliasing: 8x
- Full Screen: On
- Resolution: Custom
|
- Preset: Custom
- Quality: Ultra
- Tesselation: Extreme
- Stereo 3D: Disabled
- Multi Monitor: Disabled
- Anti Aliasing: 8x
- Full Screen: On
- Resolution: Custom
|
[pagebreak]
Bordlands - The Pre-Sequel
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
194.60 |
101.75 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
191.26 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
151.54 |
108.79 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
139.29 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
70.76 |
102.25 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
69.20 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Borderlands The Pre-Sequel Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- VSNYC: Off
- Framerate: Unlimited
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
- Bullet Decals: High
- Foliage Distance: Far
- Texture Quality: High
- Game Detail: High
- Ambient Occlusion: On
- Depth Of Field: On
- FXAA: on
- View Distance: Ultra High
- Physx Effects: Low
- Texture Fade: On
- Colorblind: Off
|
- VSNYC: Off
- Framerate: Unlimited
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
- Bullet Decals: High
- Foliage Distance: Far
- Texture Quality: High
- Game Detail: High
- Ambient Occlusion: On
- Depth Of Field: On
- FXAA: on
- View Distance: Ultra High
- Physx Effects: Low
- Texture Fade: On
- Colorblind: Off
|
- VSNYC: Off
- Framerate: Unlimited
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
- Bullet Decals: High
- Foliage Distance: Far
- Texture Quality: High
- Game Detail: High
- Ambient Occlusion: On
- Depth Of Field: On
- FXAA: on
- View Distance: Ultra High
- Physx Effects: Low
- Texture Fade: On
- Colorblind: Off
|
[pagebreak]
BattleField 4
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
88.37 |
123.18 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
71.74 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
56.71 |
120.35 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
47.12 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
30.38 |
122.75 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
24.75 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Battlefield 4 Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Texture Filtering: Ultra
- Lighting Quality: Ultra
- FX Quality: Ultra
- Post Process Quality: Ultra
- Mesh Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Decoration: Ultra
- Antialiasing Deferred: 4x MSAA
- Antialiasing Post: High
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO
|
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Texture Filtering: Ultra
- Lighting Quality: Ultra
- FX Quality: Ultra
- Post Process Quality: Ultra
- Mesh Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Decoration: Ultra
- Antialiasing Deferred: 4x MSAA
- Antialiasing Post: High
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO
|
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Texture Filtering: Ultra
- Lighting Quality: Ultra
- FX Quality: Ultra
- Post Process Quality: Ultra
- Mesh Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Decoration: Ultra
- Antialiasing Deferred: 4x MSAA
- Antialiasing Post: High
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO
|
[pagebreak]
Watch Dogs
| High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
56.22 |
108.70 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
51.72 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
|
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
37.42 |
105.50 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
35.47 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
|
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
19.12 |
100.26 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
19.07 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Watch Dogs Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Vsync: Off
- Color Blind Support: Off
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Shadow Quality: Ultra
- FX Quality: Ultra
- Mesh Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Decoration: Ultra
- Antialiasing Deferred: 4x MSAA
- Antialiasing Post: High
- Motion Blur: On
- Anisotropic Filter: 16x
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO
|
- Vsync: Off
- Color Blind Support: Off
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Shadow Quality: Ultra
- FX Quality: Ultra
- Mesh Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Decoration: Ultra
- Antialiasing Deferred: 4x MSAA
- Antialiasing Post: High
- Motion Blur: On
- Anisotropic Filter: 16x
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO
|
- Vsync: Off
- Color Blind Support: Off
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Shadow Quality: Ultra
- FX Quality: Ultra
- Mesh Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Decoration: Ultra
- Antialiasing Deferred: 4x MSAA
- Antialiasing Post: High
- Motion Blur: On
- Anisotropic Filter: 16x
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO
|
[pagebreak]
Tomb Raider
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
54.20 |
111.98 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
48.40 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
35.00 |
115.51 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
30.30 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
15.40 |
109.22 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
14.10 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Tomb Raider Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Preset: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Texture Filter: Anisotropic 16x
- Antialiasing: 4x SSAA
- Shadow: Ultra
- Shadow Resolution: High
- Level of Detail: Ultra
- Post Processing: On
- Tessellation: On
- High Precision: On
- Hair Quality: TressFX
- Reflections: High
- Depth of Field: Ultra
- SSAO: Ultra
|
- Preset: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Texture Filter: Anisotropic 16x
- Antialiasing: 4x SSAA
- Shadow: Ultra
- Shadow Resolution: High
- Level of Detail: Ultra
- Post Processing: On
- Tessellation: On
- High Precision: On
- Hair Quality: TressFX
- Reflections: High
- Depth of Field: Ultra
- SSAO: Ultra
|
- Preset: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Texture Filter: Anisotropic 16x
- Antialiasing: 4x SSAA
- Shadow: Ultra
- Shadow Resolution: High
- Level of Detail: Ultra
- Post Processing: On
- Tessellation: On
- High Precision: On
- Hair Quality: TressFX
- Reflections: High
- Depth of Field: Ultra
- SSAO: Ultra
|
[pagebreak]
Sniper Elite 3
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
54.26 |
125.63 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
43.19 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
31.20 |
107.36 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
29.06 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
16.15 |
102.54 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
15.75 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Sniper Elite 3 Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Graphics Detail: Ultra
- AntiAliasing: High
- Texture Detail: Ultra
- Draw Distance: Ultra
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16
- Supersampling: 4.0x
- Motion Blur: Yes
- Ambient Occlusion: Yes
- V-Sync: No
- Use Tessellation: Yes
- Use Obscurance Fields: Yes
|
- Graphics Detail: Ultra
- AntiAliasing: High
- Texture Detail: Ultra
- Draw Distance: Ultra
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16
- Supersampling: 4.0x
- Motion Blur: Yes
- Ambient Occlusion: Yes
- V-Sync: No
- Use Tessellation: Yes
- Use Obscurance Fields: Yes
|
- Graphics Detail: Ultra
- AntiAliasing: High
- Texture Detail: Ultra
- Draw Distance: Ultra
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16
- Supersampling: 4.0x
- Motion Blur: Yes
- Ambient Occlusion: Yes
- V-Sync: No
- Use Tessellation: Yes
- Use Obscurance Fields: Yes
|
[pagebreak]
Crysis 3
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
37.74 |
135.46 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
27.86 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
23.00 |
121.24 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
18.97 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
12.54 |
166.10 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
7.55 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Crysis 3 Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Anti Aliasing: MSAA High 8x
- Texture Resolution: Very High
- Vsync: No
- System Spec: Very High
- Game Effects: Very High
- Object: Very High
- Particles: Very High
- Post Processing: Very High
- Shading: Very High
- Shadows: Very High
- Water: Very High
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
- Motion Blur Amount: High
- Lense Flares: Yes
|
- Anti Aliasing: MSAA High 8x
- Texture Resolution: Very High
- Vsync: No
- System Spec: Very High
- Game Effects: Very High
- Object: Very High
- Particles: Very High
- Post Processing: Very High
- Shading: Very High
- Shadows: Very High
- Water: Very High
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
- Motion Blur Amount: High
- Lense Flares: Yes
|
- Anti Aliasing: MSAA High 8x
- Texture Resolution: Very High
- Vsync: No
- System Spec: Very High
- Game Effects: Very High
- Object: Very High
- Particles: Very High
- Post Processing: Very High
- Shading: Very High
- Shadows: Very High
- Water: Very High
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
- Motion Blur Amount: High
- Lense Flares: Yes
|
[pagebreak]
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
82.74 |
125.65 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
65.87 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
49.17 |
126.17 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
38.97 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
22.17 |
125.61 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
17.65 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Call of Duty: Advanced Wirefare Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Vsync: No
- Render Resolution: Native
- Texture Quality: manual
- Texture Resolution: Extra
- Normal Map Resolution: Extra
- Specular Map Resolution: Extra
- Anisotropic Filtering: High
- Shadows: On
- Shadow Map Resolutiopn: High
- Cache Sun'shadow Maps: On
- Cache Spot Shadow Maps: On
- Depth of Field: High Quality
- Motion Blur: High Quality
- Screen'space Ambient Occlusion: Normal
-
Medium Distance Ambient Occlusion: On
- Sub Surface Scattering: On
- Depth PrepaSS: oN
- Post Process Anti-Aliasing: Filmic SMAA T2x
- Super Sampling: 4x
- Shader Preload: On
- Shader Preload During Cinematics: On
- Bullet Impacts: On
- Dynamic Light Limit: 8
|
- Vsync: No
- Render Resolution: Native
- Texture Quality: manual
- Texture Resolution: Extra
- Normal Map Resolution: Extra
- Specular Map Resolution: Extra
- Anisotropic Filtering: High
- Shadows: On
- Shadow Map Resolutiopn: High
- Cache Sun'shadow Maps: On
- Cache Spot Shadow Maps: On
- Depth of Field: High Quality
- Motion Blur: High Quality
- Screen'space Ambient Occlusion: Normal
-
Medium Distance Ambient Occlusion: On
- Sub Surface Scattering: On
- Depth PrepaSS: oN
- Post Process Anti-Aliasing: Filmic SMAA T2x
- Super Sampling: 4x
- Shader Preload: On
- Shader Preload During Cinematics: On
- Bullet Impacts: On
- Dynamic Light Limit: 8
|
- Vsync: No
- Render Resolution: Native
- Texture Quality: manual
- Texture Resolution: Extra
- Normal Map Resolution: Extra
- Specular Map Resolution: Extra
- Anisotropic Filtering: High
- Shadows: On
- Shadow Map Resolutiopn: High
- Cache Sun'shadow Maps: On
- Cache Spot Shadow Maps: On
- Depth of Field: High Quality
- Motion Blur: High Quality
- Screen'space Ambient Occlusion: Normal
-
Medium Distance Ambient Occlusion: On
- Sub Surface Scattering: On
- Depth PrepaSS: oN
- Post Process Anti-Aliasing: Filmic SMAA T2x
- Super Sampling: 4x
- Shader Preload: On
- Shader Preload During Cinematics: On
- Bullet Impacts: On
- Dynamic Light Limit: 8
|
[pagebreak]
Thief
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
80.5 |
103.02 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
69.6 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
54.9 |
115.66 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
48.9 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
30.0 |
112.78 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
26.6 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Thief Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Vsync: Off
- Preset: Custom
- Texture Quality: Very High
- Shadow Quality: Very High
- Depth of Field Quality: High
- Texture Filtering Quality: 16x Anisotropic
- SSAA: High
- Automatically limit Texture Quality: On
- Screen'space Reflection: On
- Parallax Occlusion Mapping: On
- FXAA: On
- Contact Hardening Shadows: On
- Tesselation: On
- Image Based Reflection: On
|
- Vsync: Off
- Preset: Custom
- Texture Quality: Very High
- Shadow Quality: Very High
- Depth of Field Quality: High
- Texture Filtering Quality: 16x Anisotropic
- SSAA: High
- Automatically limit Texture Quality: On
- Screen'space Reflection: On
- Parallax Occlusion Mapping: On
- FXAA: On
- Contact Hardening Shadows: On
- Tesselation: On
- Image Based Reflection: On
|
- Vsync: Off
- Preset: Custom
- Texture Quality: Very High
- Shadow Quality: Very High
- Depth of Field Quality: High
- Texture Filtering Quality: 16x Anisotropic
- SSAA: High
- Automatically limit Texture Quality: On
- Screen'space Reflection: On
- Parallax Occlusion Mapping: On
- FXAA: On
- Contact Hardening Shadows: On
- Tesselation: On
- Image Based Reflection: On
|
[pagebreak]
GRID Autosport
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
120.20 |
176.71 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
76.70 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
102.11 |
136.69 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
74.70 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
|
High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
62.00 |
127.70 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
48.55 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
GRID Autosport Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Full Screen: On
- Vsync: Off
- Nigh Lightning: Ultra
- Advanced Fog: On
- Particles: Ultra
- Cloths: Ultra
- Ambient Occlusion: Ultra
- Soft Ambient Occlusion: On
- Ground Cover: Ultra
- Vehicle Details: Ultra
- Vehicle Reflections: Ultra
- Objects: Ultra
- Trees: Ultra
- Crowds: Ultra
- Water: High
- Advanced Lighting: Enabled
- Global Illumination: On
- Texture Quality: High
- Shader Quality: High
- Anisotropic Filtering: Ultra
- Smoke: Shadows: on
|
- Full Screen: On
- Vsync: Off
- Nigh Lightning: Ultra
- Advanced Fog: On
- Particles: Ultra
- Cloths: Ultra
- Ambient Occlusion: Ultra
- Soft Ambient Occlusion: On
- Ground Cover: Ultra
- Vehicle Details: Ultra
- Vehicle Reflections: Ultra
- Objects: Ultra
- Trees: Ultra
- Crowds: Ultra
- Water: High
- Advanced Lighting: Enabled
- Global Illumination: On
- Texture Quality: High
- Shader Quality: High
- Anisotropic Filtering: Ultra
- Smoke: Shadows: on
|
- Full Screen: On
- Vsync: Off
- Nigh Lightning: Ultra
- Advanced Fog: On
- Particles: Ultra
- Cloths: Ultra
- Ambient Occlusion: Ultra
- Soft Ambient Occlusion: On
- Ground Cover: Ultra
- Vehicle Details: Ultra
- Vehicle Reflections: Ultra
- Objects: Ultra
- Trees: Ultra
- Crowds: Ultra
- Water: High
- Advanced Lighting: Enabled
- Global Illumination: On
- Texture Quality: High
- Shader Quality: High
- Anisotropic Filtering: Ultra
- Smoke: Shadows: on
|
[pagebreak]
Sleeping Dogs - Benchmark
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
83.5 |
106.78 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
78.2 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
49.9 |
110.89 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
45.0 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
19.8 |
117.16 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
16.9 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Sleeping Dogs Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Full Screen: On
- Graphics Level: Extreme
- Enable Quality Anti Aliasing: Extreme
- Enable High Res Textures: On
- Shadow Resolution: High
- Shadow Filtering: High
- Screen'space Ambient Occlusion: High
- Enable Vsync: Off
- Enable Quality Motion Blur: High
- World Density: Extreme
|
- Full Screen: On
- Graphics Level: Extreme
- Enable Quality Anti Aliasing: Extreme
- Enable High Res Textures: On
- Shadow Resolution: High
- Shadow Filtering: High
- Screen'space Ambient Occlusion: High
- Enable Vsync: Off
- Enable Quality Motion Blur: High
- World Density: Extreme
|
- Full Screen: On
- Graphics Level: Extreme
- Enable Quality Anti Aliasing: Extreme
- Enable High Res Textures: On
- Shadow Resolution: High
- Shadow Filtering: High
- Screen'space Ambient Occlusion: High
- Enable Vsync: Off
- Enable Quality Motion Blur: High
- World Density: Extreme
|
[pagebreak]
Metro: Last Light - Benchmark
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
68.03 |
138.67 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
49.06 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
44.22 |
127.91 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
34.57 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
20.21 |
129.55 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
15.60 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Metro: Last Light Settings |
| 1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Quality: Very High
- Texture Filtering: AF16x
- Motion Blur: Normal
- SSAA: On
- Tesselation: Very High
- Scene: D6
- Runs: 3
|
- Quality: Very High
- Texture Filtering: AF16x
- Motion Blur: Normal
- SSAA: On
- Tesselation: Very High
- Scene: D6
- Runs: 3
|
- Quality: Very High
- Texture Filtering: AF16x
- Motion Blur: Normal
- SSAA: On
- Tesselation: Very High
- Scene: D6
- Runs: 3
|
[pagebreak]
Assassin's Creed Unity
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
48.30 |
126.50 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
38.18 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
30.12 |
115.98 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
25.97 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
15.68 |
150.77 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
10.40 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Assassins Creed Unity Settings |
| 1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Blood Fx : On
- Companion app : On
- Graphics Quality: Ultra High
- VSync: Of
- Streching: on
- Envirnoment Quality: Ultra High
- Texture Quality: Ultra High
- Shadow Quality : PCSS
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO+
- Anti-Aliasing Quality: MSAA-4X
- Bloom: On
|
- Blood Fx : On
- Companion app : On
- Graphics Quality: Ultra High
- VSync: Of
- Streching: on
- Envirnoment Quality: Ultra High
- Texture Quality: Ultra High
- Shadow Quality : PCSS
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO+
- Anti-Aliasing Quality: MSAA-4X
- Bloom: On
|
- Blood Fx : On
- Companion app : On
- Graphics Quality: Ultra High
- VSync: Of
- Streching: on
- Envirnoment Quality: Ultra High
- Texture Quality: Ultra High
- Shadow Quality : PCSS
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO+
- Anti-Aliasing Quality: MSAA-4X
- Bloom: On
|
[pagebreak]
Far Cry 4
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
58.60 |
130.60 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
44.87 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
38.64 |
123.77 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
31.22 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
18.11 |
185.93 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
9.74 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Far Cry 4 Settings |
| 1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Motion Blur : On
- Textures: Ultra
- VSync: Off
- Shadow: Ultra
- Post FX: Ultra
- Geometry: Ultra
- Vegetation: Ultra
- Terrain: Ultra
- Water: Ultra
- Environment: Ultra
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO+
- Anti-Aliasing Quality: MSAA-4X
- Godrays: Volumetric fog
- Fur : On
- Trees relief : On
|
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Motion Blur : On
- Textures: Ultra
- VSync: Off
- Shadow: Ultra
- Post FX: Ultra
- Geometry: Ultra
- Vegetation: Ultra
- Terrain: Ultra
- Water: Ultra
- Environment: Ultra
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO+
- Anti-Aliasing Quality: MSAA-4X
- Godrays: Volumetric fog
- Fur : On
- Trees relief : On
|
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Motion Blur : On
- Textures: Ultra
- VSync: Off
- Shadow: Ultra
- Post FX: Ultra
- Geometry: Ultra
- Vegetation: Ultra
- Terrain: Ultra
- Water: Ultra
- Environment: Ultra
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO+
- Anti-Aliasing Quality: MSAA-4X
- Godrays: Volumetric fog
- Fur : On
- Trees relief : On
|
[pagebreak]
Power Consumption
| Power Consumption Idle* |
Watts |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
68 |
73.91 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
92 |
100.00 % |
| *Entire system |
Less is better |
| Power Consumption Load (FurMark)* |
Watts |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
222 |
62.89 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
353 |
100.00 % |
| *Entire system |
Less is better |
[pagebreak]
Price
| |
Price |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
|
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
|
[pagebreak]
Performance Index
| High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
123.04 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
117.82 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
% |
| nVidia
GeForce GTX 980 |
124.64 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Conclusion
First of all we have a quick chat about prices. These days a
AMD Radeon R9 290X costs 320 Euro. Compare that to the 495 Euro you'd have to pay for the cheapest reference GTX
980 you can find and you’ll notice the GTX 980 is about 55 percent more expensive.
To dive a bit deeper into the results, we start with performance differences in 3DMark graphics score where we see that the GTX
980 is 16 percent quicker in FireStrike Performance, 21 percent in Extreme and 12 percent when running FireStrike Ultra. In the next theoretical test we ran, Unigine Heaven, we see that the GTX
980 is less than 15 percent quicker in 1080p, 11 percent when running 1440p and
5 percent using our 2160p preset. In the case of games it turns out that the
performance differences highly depend on the resolution combined with detail
level. When running 1080p resolution we see that the GTX
980 is faster in all 13 games we have in our charts but not by much. One game that shows significant difference is GRID Autosport, where the GTX
980 is about 77 percent faster than the R9 290X in 1080p, 37 percent in 1440p and checking 2160p we find
28 percent difference. Having a closer look at Metro Last Light at 1080p shows
39 percent, 28 percent when1440p and the GTX
980 is about 30 percent quicker in 2160. A closer look at Assasins Creed
Unity reveals a 27 percent gap in 1080p, 16 percent in 1440p and 50 percent in
2160p. Apart from that it’s the same story for Far Cry 4, where the difference
in UHD is 86 percent. For most of the other games at 1080p and 1440p the
GTX 980 is about 20 percent ahead and there is nice 25 percent difference in
2160.
The only games we can't see a lot of difference are Borderlands - The
Pre-Sequel, Tomb Raider and Watch Dogs where the GTX 980 is about 2 to 8 percent
quicker than R9 290X on average over all resolutions.
Overall the R9 290X isn't performing too bad, and there is no doubt that the older generation of high-end AMD cards still packs some
serious punch. Since it's rather clear that the old
generation can not run games smoothly in UHD it was still interesting to see how
the
R9 290X stacks up against the GTX 980. Last but no least we also had a look at power consumption and we noticed that the test system with
R9 290X burns 35 percent more power. Under load the difference shoots up to a whopping
59 percent.
If you’re thinking about upgrading from a R9 290X to a GTX 980 we can tell you that this only makes sense if you’re planning on playing games at ultra high resolutions. In all other scenarios the
R9 290X is still a seriously quick graphics card and more than capable of pumping out high frame rates
especially at 1080p. Apart from that you should also take into account that the
GTX 980 is 55 percent more expensive than the R9 290X when we compare retail
prices. Keep that in mind when you see that even at UHD the performance
difference is roughly 25%.
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